This book is the fascinating true account of how a small Christian ministry which produced its own health supplements, stood up to USA government tyranny. The author did her advanced homeopathy studies with Dr Luc De Schepper, and edited his Achieving and Maintaining the Simillimum which is one of my favourite homeopathy books. The majority of the cases in that book are hers.

Called to Stand is divided into 3 parts: Part 1 – The Foundation is Laid, Part 2 – The House is Built, and Part 3 – The Rains Come.

Part 1 begins setting the scene by giving the background of Jim and Tricia herself and how they both separately became “born again” Christians.They started Daniel Chapter One in 1986,a small business and a ministry that sold their self-designed health supplements as alternatives to radiation and chemotherapy for cancer as well as a support for other health issues.Tricia began writing this true account of their trials and tribulations in 2014, and finished it while Jim was in prison.

At the beginning of Chapter 2, Tricia relates how two former homeopathy clients stopped by, from which we realise that she is a trained homeopath! Here we are introduced to her dislike of pharmaceutical drugs and the fact that they (Tricia and Jim) are not legally allowed touse the words treat, cure, prevent or mitigate unless pertaining to drugs. She goes on to describe briefly what homeopathy is.We are then told how Patricia and Jim were coerced in court and threatened with handcuffs and imprisonment if they didn’t fully comply with the FTC to stop sharing health information and send a letter to their customers saying that only conventional cancer treatment has been “proven safe and effective.” Tricia ended up closing her homeopathy practice at this time.

In September 2010,government agents stripped files, testimonials and patient medical records from their home despite the fact that there had never been a complaint against their services and products. Their safe products are compared with pharmaceutical drugs which have killed thousands every year.

From then on we follow the life of Jim and Tricia, how they met, their marriage and honeymoon in Canada in a VW bus and their life together. They lived a simple life, as best they could afford, living in a tent at one stage and learning to survive harsh conditions.The book goes back and forth in time, as the next chapter begins with the telling of three years of criminal prosecutions which ended with the media running headlines such as“Indictment: Business sold unapproved cancer drugs.”Tricia refused to give in and plead guilty to even one of the misdemeanors and instead, they chose to fight the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

At one point, Jim was training to be a Deacon but suddenly decided he couldn’t do it anymore. They waited for a sign from God to tell them what to do next. The only thing Tricia wanted was children, but after praying, she understood that she would have spiritual children. Jim got a job teaching for a couple of years and later,against all odds, they started up Daniel Chapter One health food shop and ministry, even getting a 30 day credit from a natural food distributor. They traveled through Europe, and wherever they went found people of like mind and spirit who looked after them.

In Chapter 11 we are told that the FTC demanded over $3million for violations of their order. Tricia explains that all they had done was answer people’s health questions and educate them about following God. They refused to sign the government ordered letter. Then we read about a past, second trip to Europe, as the story is purposely not told in chronological order.

In the next chapter we are back to 1986, where Jim was coaching football and Tricia running Daniel Chapter One. Jim took nutrients to help with healing and pain while in the hospital for a torn ligament. When others saw how quickly he healed, the word was spread. Tricia started in the ministry of teaching about natural vegetarian food and Jim made himself knowledgeable about biochemistry and sports nutrition. He discovered a new science called Biomolecular Nutrition and used it with much success in the sports field. Religion-wise they started keeping the Jewish festivals, as Jesus said “to do things by his spirit.” They were also beginning to have people come to their home to worship.

Tricia tells us of times she turned to the Bible to be shown what to do. She describes how her religious belief caused her to follow Jim to China to do missionary work, which meant not being able to attend her sister’s wedding as a maid of honour. They made a mistake in getting vaccinated and taking medication against malaria, which made them sick, and they vowed never to do that again! The story of how they got into China and what they did there is riveting. They managed to miss the massacre in Tiananmen Square by a couple of days.

Tricia and Jim eventually set up a second Daniel Chapter One. By this time they ran their ministry entirely from the store and had a backyard turned over to organic foods and herbs. They then got a call to go to Israel. While there, they lived very basically in Shiloh and even had a call from God to fast for 3 days.This was a very spiritual time for them.

Despite the lawsuit in 2008, in 2015 they were still helping people with Homeopathy, Biomolecular Nutrition, and God’s help. Their frustration lay in the fact that “the free flow of information has been impeded.” For 18 years they hosted Daniel Chapter One Health Watch on the radio, answering people’s health questions as well as praying with them, but the government put an end to it.

Part 2 and Part 3 of the book I just couldn’t put down. It was the account in full detail of their lives during this period and the full detail of their run in with the FDA, FTC, and of the trials and indictments. She writes about the problems of keeping the Daniel Chapter One Health Watch radio program on the air.We also get far more detail about Tricia’s Homeopathy practice.

Part of the fascination of this book is how they survived the harshest conditions when called abroad and were able, with their deep religious belief, to find the reasons for this struggle within “the scriptures.” Tricia,we note,continually turns to the Bible for inspiration and how to keep going with her strenuous life. Throughout the book are Bible quotations and Tricia’s interpretation of them.

I think that anyone associated with the medical profession should read this book, including homeopaths and other complementary health professionals, who will be incensed with the injustice shown to this couple. I also believe that it would make an excellent film!

About the author

Rochelle Marsden

Rochelle Marsden MSc, RSHom, MNWCH, AAMET is a member of the Hoacuoidep team, a registered classical homeopath (Society of Homeopaths), and has run Southport Homeopathic Practice in the UK SINCE 1999. Rochelle completed a 2 year post-grad course with Dr. Ramakrishnan and another with Dr. S. Banerjea, and an intense Clinical Training in India with Dr. Ramakrishnan. She was a tutor for The British Institute for Homeopathy (BIH) and is a regional tutor for local homeopathic colleges. She is also a practitioner in meridian therapies, EFT (Cert. Advanced) and Matrix Reimprinting. Visit Rochelle at :